Underground sprinkler systems have become increasingly popular. These systems which involve a plurality of sprinkler heads connected by pipes pop up from beneath the ground's surface to provide a property owner with a convenient and efficient way to water a lawn. Underground sprinkler systems can be operated by an automated timer/controller so the presence of an operator is not necessary to maintain a regular lawn watering schedule. Further, these systems are efficient conserving both power and water.
A common pop-up sprinkler head which is gear driven and of the rotor type has a turret within a case. The turret houses a nozzle. When the system is installed, the top of the case is near or just beneath ground level. A spring holds the turret within the case. Water pressure applied to the bottom of the turret through a water inlet at the base of the case forces the turret out of the case. When the turret pops up out of the case water flows through the turret out the nozzle to sprinkle the lawn.
Tools have been created for the periodic adjustment and maintenance of sprinkler systems that have already been installed beneath the ground. Damage to the pipes connecting the sprinkler heads require the extraction of the damaged section of pipe (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,377,956, 5,184,531). Tools have been made to assist a technician in removing damaged sprinkler heads (U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,977,063, 4,151,956, 4,788,894, 6,349,624 B1, 6,446,531 B1). Adjustment of a system may require that nozzles be replaced within the turrets. Nozzles can become clogged and need to be replaced. Further, the selection of a specific nozzle shape dictates the direction of the spray and nozzles must be changed when fine tuning or reconfiguring a system. Since these turrets are spring-biased to remain within the sprinkler head case when no water is present. A technician must pull the turret from the case against the force of the spring. A number of tools have been devised to assist the technician in this task (U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,408,444, 1,962,534, 2,532,141, 4,085,633, 4,866,801, 6,234,411 B1, 6,425,564 B1, 6,487,942 B1, Rainbird 2003–2004 catalog). These tools require that the technician pull the turret from the case overcoming the spring and then hold the turret against the spring bias while replacing the nozzle. This is a job that requires at least two hands and requires some strength and stamina working against the powerful spring. During preparation for installation, nozzles are inserted into the turrets of the sprinkler heads. It is still necessary for a technician to pull the turret from the case and hold the turret against the spring while inserting the nozzle.
A tool which would displace the turret from the case and hold the turret outside the case while the nozzle is being inserted would allow nozzles to be placed into turrets without encumbering both hands. Further, such a tool would speed installation of the nozzles and reduce fatigue.
All patents, patent applications, provisional patent application and publications referred to or cited herein, are incorporated by reference in their entirety to the extent they are not inconsistent with the explicit teachings of the specification.